The adventures continued!
This break has turned out to be quite full so far! Looking back, I can label each week or half week of it: a week of rest, a week of family, a half-week of friends, about a week of math... and now about one week to go, but which will probably be labeled "job searching."
Last week I actually got to see some friends again! Lizzy came over for New Year's Eve - we watched Nausicaa, which I got for Christmas, and hung out and caught up. On Saturday, I got together with several other friends from high school and we had a great time playing video games, chatting, and going out to Friendly's. It was so good to see them again! It was sad that a couple people couldn't make it, though. : (
On Sunday, I left for Washington, D.C. Part and parcel of the research I did last summer was going to a math conference to give a talk, so this week we (me, the two guys I worked with, and Dr. Jackson as well as Dr. McCathern) went to the Joint Math Meetings, which was (surprise!) held in DC this year. We did our twenty minute talk (which was nothing, really, compared to the hour ones we've had to do before) on Monday evening, and then we had the next three days of the conference to attend talks and do a bit of sight-seeing. I went to a couple panels on grad school (though I quickly discovered that the advice was aimed towards students planning to get a PhD in math more than anyone else), a few math talks that looked interesting (I wish I'd gone to more), and a talk about what decisions can lead to a great career (following an area in which one has talent and for which one has passion and which places one in an engaging and supportive environment seems to be the consensus). Also, Jim, Mike, and I went out to see the Washington Monument, the new WWII monument, the Old Post Office, and the National Museum of American History. The nice thing about visiting the first was that we didn't have to wait to go in - it was a cold, wet, dreary day in the middle of January, so there was no line for the free tickets! The last was very interesting, though we spent two or three hours there, so by the end my feet were quite sore (as I had unfortunately worn dressy shoes that day >.< ). All in all, it was a fun trip, though not so fun was the DC 10% sales tax and having to go out to eat for every meal - it really wears on one's wallet!
And now I have a week left until classes start! I hope to spend the time looking for a summer internship, since I will have very little time for that during the actual semester. We'll see how that turns out. ^^;
Last week I actually got to see some friends again! Lizzy came over for New Year's Eve - we watched Nausicaa, which I got for Christmas, and hung out and caught up. On Saturday, I got together with several other friends from high school and we had a great time playing video games, chatting, and going out to Friendly's. It was so good to see them again! It was sad that a couple people couldn't make it, though. : (
On Sunday, I left for Washington, D.C. Part and parcel of the research I did last summer was going to a math conference to give a talk, so this week we (me, the two guys I worked with, and Dr. Jackson as well as Dr. McCathern) went to the Joint Math Meetings, which was (surprise!) held in DC this year. We did our twenty minute talk (which was nothing, really, compared to the hour ones we've had to do before) on Monday evening, and then we had the next three days of the conference to attend talks and do a bit of sight-seeing. I went to a couple panels on grad school (though I quickly discovered that the advice was aimed towards students planning to get a PhD in math more than anyone else), a few math talks that looked interesting (I wish I'd gone to more), and a talk about what decisions can lead to a great career (following an area in which one has talent and for which one has passion and which places one in an engaging and supportive environment seems to be the consensus). Also, Jim, Mike, and I went out to see the Washington Monument, the new WWII monument, the Old Post Office, and the National Museum of American History. The nice thing about visiting the first was that we didn't have to wait to go in - it was a cold, wet, dreary day in the middle of January, so there was no line for the free tickets! The last was very interesting, though we spent two or three hours there, so by the end my feet were quite sore (as I had unfortunately worn dressy shoes that day >.< ). All in all, it was a fun trip, though not so fun was the DC 10% sales tax and having to go out to eat for every meal - it really wears on one's wallet!
And now I have a week left until classes start! I hope to spend the time looking for a summer internship, since I will have very little time for that during the actual semester. We'll see how that turns out. ^^;